Monday, April 14, 2008

During second day, visited Suwon city to see old fortification wall and some old castles. Suwon is within very easy reach with subway. In train, I noticed that some people carry big size luggage. What are in those big bags ? There were also people selling some stuff on train, which I found entertaining. They were good organized - when one seller left for next cab, other seller came. Image: Scene inside Seoul metro Suwon tour, I am starting with Hwaseong Fortress wall. Its a short bus ride away from Suwon station. Probably, the best way to explore fortress is to go clockwise. Walk starts with long uphill climb. It’s more like a park in this section - people running and exercising, others are having spring picnics etc. Very few tourists. Later wall goes into more urban area with houses and streets around. It is possible to see old houses inside and modern, tall buildings outside. Here I met more local tourists from Korea.

Video: Some moments I captured at Hwaseong Fortress. It starts with ringing of bell. It costs 1000 won for 3 hits and if you go there you should not miss it

Its very easy to walk around fortress wall. Whole walk with stops took me around 3 hours. See other pictures from wall. Image: Command and watch towerImage: yellow flowers were blooming this timeImage: most interesting tower built on small riverImage: wall continues into more urban areas There is also second, smaller castle in the middle of Hwaseong Fortress. It is also place where some Korean TV dramas with historical topics have been filmed.

Video: video from smaller castle in the middle of Hwaseong Fortress. It is called Hwaseong Haenggung palaceImage: some of the exibits in the castle This place on Google map: View Larger Map Access: Click here for a map.